


Write to Me

by DisneyGeekWriter



Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Genre: F/M, The Nurse and the Soilder, WWII
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-17 19:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10600911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisneyGeekWriter/pseuds/DisneyGeekWriter
Summary: France 1942. Belle duMaurice is a nurse in an Allied Hospital by the sea. Adam Molyneaux, a lieutenant from a very French village in Louisiana meet when she tended to a wound. He asked if he could write to her. She agreed and through the course of the war, they fall in love. These are their letters.





	1. France, 1942

**Author's Note:**

> This is an edited and reworked beginning to their story.

I: France, 1942 

 

The cool breeze of the sea could not waft away the scents and cries of anguish that came from the seaside field hospital. Belle duMaurice, a former librarian from a small village in the French countryside had come to the hospital nearly a year ago, when the Nazi's invaded and burned her village to the ground. She had lost everyone she had ever loved; her mother, her father. She made her way to Paris where she went into nurse's training and was sent to the seaside hospital. Her skills with record keeping and a memory that could recall nearly anything at the drop of a hat, came in handy. She was in charge of making sure the men who came through their care were catalogued and properly identified. Belle would read to the soldiers, having scoured the seaside homes for anything that was left. She helped write letters to mothers, sisters, sweethearts. Many of the men who came to her hospital were no more than boys. Far too young to witness the horrors they had seen. 

One such boy was Christopher Potts, affectionately called Chip by the staff by virtue of the missing front tooth. He came from a town in the US that by his words, you’d never heard of and would forget just as quickly. His mother had been widowed and he and his brothers joined the service as a way to send her money and keep out of trouble. His brother Michael had been killed on the Arizona and another in Midway. Chip was being sent home, minus a few fingers but in good spirits. It would do his mama good to have him home.  
  
Belle looked down the rows of cots, the overwhelming sense of dread and despair taking her heart. She put on a brave face and took the tray she was carrying down the rows, dispensing medications to the wounded men. For some the only comfort they would have would be her voice. Her voice ensuring them that would all be over soon. They weren't alone. They would never die alone, that she would always be there to hold their hands. 

At the end of a bloody, grueling day she was reminded of something good. In her pocket, an unopened letter. It wasn't from home, she had no home anymore. It wasn't from a friend in Paris, the occupation making it harder and harder to get the things they needed. This was a letter from a solider, a solider who didn't have anyone else to write to. A solider she swore she was falling in love with. But there was a side to her that cautioned that this man could very well be dead or would never come back to her. So many of the nurses she had known had done just what she was doing. The writing to this man wasn't the problem, it was the idea that she could be falling in love with someone she barely knew. 

But Adam was different. Belle knew that. He was an American. He was from a small French village in Louisiana. Adam Molyneaux was a lieutenant and had watched helplessly as his entire squad was gunned down under heavy fire. He barely made it. Through fever and delirium, Belle nursed him. He was bitter, he was angry. Anyone would be. For all his shouting, Belle never gave an inch. There were times she would flat out ignore him until he could get his temper under control and speak to her civilly. 

  
She took a quiet moment between patients to read the words he put to pen. Just for her.

 

_May 22nd, 1942_

_My cher Belle,_

_  
I pray my letters find you in good health. I pray you are safe, warm and wanting for nothing. My dearest, how you fill my every sense. My soul longs to hear your voice again, my cher. The time I have spent away from you has been agony. It takes all I have in these long nights to recall the shape of your face, the curve of your smile, the glare in your eye when I was stubborn and longed to die. You brought me back and I am forever thankful._

_  
Every step I take, my Belle, is to find my way back to you. I see you every night in my dreams. Your sweet caring voice, calling to me. Demanding that I pull through. I long for just another sight of you. You Belle, belong in a great home, surrounded by the books you love. Your stories, they comfort me. When this war has ended and the world once more starts making sense, I will find you. I will come back. I promise you, my cher Belle. Wait for me. I am coming for you._

_  
Adam_

  
She held the letter to her heart. When the night comes, she will write back. She will say yet another prayer that he will be safe. That he will find his way back to her. To her and to a life they would build together.


	2. Germany: 1942

II: Germany, 1942

 

Second Lieutenant Adam Molyneaux, United States Army finally understood why it was called the Black Forest. The trees were so thick and menacing, it was easy to understand where the stories of the haunted wood came from. At night his men swore they could see things moving in the darkness. Most of the time Adam took them seriously and other times told them they were being superstitious idiots. But on clear nights, Adam would breathe deeply and for a moment he was back by the sea, by the sea in France. So long as he could have a moments peace, he would always be there. There by the sea with her, his cher. His Belle. 

Had it really only been a few months? It seemed like a lifetime ago. Adam, a Tulane boy, had joined the army the moment he graduated. They made him an officer and gave him a squad to assist in the intelligence gathering deep in the heart of occupied France. His unit had been attacked and all but he had been killed. He suffered only a simple shoulder wound, but the ensuing fever, hallucinations, and pain made him the worst patient in the hospital. No matter how he yelled, railed, and was an all around jackass, the floor nurse gave it right back to him. She would make him wait his turn, make him say please and thank you. Never once did Belle duMaurice allow his behavior dictate his treatment. Once he was kind, he found that he loved being around Belle. He loved the sound of her voice as she hummed while she was checking each man. The way she told stories from memory, held the hands of the boys who were dying, never taking her soft brown eyes from them. 

He found her when he was walking, regaining strength, hidden in a corner, weeping softly. The men had brought in orphans from a nearby village, their homes destroyed by the Axis powers. A little boy, no more than eight had been badly burned in the chaos. Belle did all she could with the surgeons to save the boy but it was too late. There was nothing could be done except hold his hand and help him dream of a better place than a battlefield hospital. Her facade had cracked and for the first time, Adam saw the girl in Belle. He held her as she cried. 

The first letter he got from her was full of despair and longing for the conflict to end. The next arrived just days later and it was much lighter. Full of hope and promise of what life would be like once the war was over. 

 

_July 24th, 1942_

_My Dearest Adam,_

_Please ignore my last letter. it had been a very long day and I never should have sent it. I miss you so very much and I long for this war to end so that we can begin. Not be spread across the world like two wandering souls. I long to have a place where we can grow old together. Be it here in France or in America with you. At night I dream of you. I dream of the life we can have together. Away from war and despair. Away from blood and tears and death. I dreamt of a large home in a small town, where everything is like the day before. Where nothing unexpected ever happens._

_We are getting orders to move the hospital. I do not know where we will be going or if I will ever get another letter from you. In case this is the last time I will be able to get a message to you, my dearest Adam, I love you. You are my everything. Find me. When all this nonsense has ended, find me. Find me and take me to the village where everything and every day is the same. Find me, Lieutenant. That's an order._

_Yours always,_

_Belle_

If it took the rest of his life, Adam would never stop writing to Belle and never stop searching for her. She was his enchanting rose. His reason for pushing onward. 

 


	3. France, 1943

_France, 1943_

It had been far too long since the last time that Belle had received a letter from Adam. Nearly five months had gone by since his last letter. She knew getting correspondence back and forth from France and Germany was nigh impossible but still she held to the hope. Every day she checked with the clerk about mail. She knew she shouldn’t worry about Adam but she couldn’t help it. Maybe he had moved camps. Maybe his squad wasn’t even in Germany anymore and he wasn’t getting her letters. All she could do was pray that he was safe and was coming back to her. 

With every new day, with every arrival of the wounded men, Belle searched for his face. For the face of the man that she loved and dreamed of having a life with. Every time he wasn’t part of the wounded in her care, she would breathe just a bit easier. But then the next group would come in and she would start all over again. Daily she would check with the clerk to ask about any letters. And every day there would be nothing. But Belle remained ever optimistic. 

As the months passed Belle found herself getting to know some of the French soldiers who were stationed to be protection for the hospital. There was one man, he had been the concierge of the _Le Meurice_ before joining the service. She wasn’t sure of his real name but the men all called him Lumeire. And what a light he was. He could talk for hours about the people he had known at the hotel. He claimed to have waited on the famed painter Salvador Dali but Belle wasn’t sure if he was serious or just making talk. 

The winter had been long and Belle dreamt of warm sand beaches and Adam by her side. Finally spring had come to the country. And with it, a twined bundle of lost letters from the man she loved so dearly. 

_  
October 23rd, 1942_

_My Cher Belle,_

_My darling how I miss you. Not a day, nay, an hour goes by that I don’t think of you. Your kind, loving smile is what keeps me going during the long nights away from you. I love you with everything that I am. I can only pray that you feel the same for me. My travels take me far from you. Travels. That word makes it seem that I am only away from you on business and not on campaign of war._

_I wish I could ease your mind and allow you to know where I am. Know my love that I am safe and I am coming back to you. I thank God every day that I came to your hospital. For it was there that I found the other half of my soul. Once this horrible war is over, you and I will begin our life together. Just as it should be._

_Yours forever,_

_Adam_

  
Pressed inside the letters, all reading the same desperate need for her, were dozens of wildflowers he had collected. They weren’t much but Belle treasured them as much as she would any jewel or treasure Adam could give her. 

_  
December 24th, 1942_

_My Cher Belle,_

_Joyeux Noël, my darling. How I wish I could be spending Christmas with you. Nothing would give me more joy than to hold you in my arms and tell you all my dreams and desires. I long to be next to you while you dream. To the first face you see when you wake. I want to grow old with you. I want you to be my wife. Will you, my darling? Marry me. I know a written proposal in the midst of a war isn’t the romantic Seine picnic you dreamed of. But it is the best I can do. I love you my cher. Be my wife?_

_Yours forever,_

_Adam_

  
Inside the letter was a simple silver band, likely melted down from cutlery from an abandoned home. he had to have guessed the size and it was too large for her ring finger. So she wore it on her index finger of her left hand.   
  


_April 22nd, 1943_

_My Adam,_

_The only word I can even think to write to you is this: Yes. A thousand times yes. Come home to me my love. Come home to me and make me your wife._

_Belle_


	4. Germany 1943

IV: Germany 1943

 

Lieutenant Adam Molyneaux watched daily for the Intelligence trucks to arrive. Sometimes they were able to intercept the mail trucks and good news from the home front. Rumor had it that in the coming months the Allied forces would be making a push to retake France. 

France. Belle. The sooner he could return to France and find a way to send her to the states the better he would sleep. He had received her response to his proposal a month ago and since then his mind has been playing out millions of scenarios of what they’re life was going to be. He had written to his housekeeper in Louisiana, Mrs. Mable Potts, to alert her to the possibility that he would be sending his new bride home soon. 

 

_May 10th, 1943_

_My dearest Adam,_

_The firelight dances on the ring I wear in honor of you. Looking at it there on my finger helps me to know that I am not alone. That I have you coming back to me. We have moved the hospital. I don’t really know where in France we are and that’s all that I can say my love. I hope your letters find me and mine find you._

_Lumiere has taken in a kitten he found in one of the villages he passed through. We have named her Babette after his girlfriend from the hotel. She was the head of housekeeping at the hotel. The little girl has become quite the expert mouse catcher. She left one on my pillow. Despite the unwelcome gift, the kitten has been a welcome distraction to all the bloodshed._

_It has not been easy. Watching young men die is something I will never get used to. But I will hold their hand and ease them into the afterlife the best that I can. I long for the days of peace and tranquility. Promise me that’s what our life will be. Promise me that I won’t have to watch young men die._

_I long to be in your arms my love. The time and distance is creating a fog about your face. I can’t see you clearly any more. I miss you so much, Adam. I can only pray for the day you will come back for me. My love come back to me._

_All my love,_

_Belle_

 

Her photograph of him must have gotten lost in her move. He would move heaven and earth to get another one to her. The love of his life should never be lost in the fog. She meant more to him than anything. He knew the photographer from Stars and Stripes was around. It would probably cost him all the script he had left to get his picture taken. But his Belle was worth it. 

 

_July 10th, 1943_

_Dearest Adam,_

_I am being transferred out of France. My skills are needed elsewhere. I do not know where I am going yet. My commander thinks Italy or even back to Paris. I will write again soon. I love you more than anything. I love you. Find me._

_Love always,_

_Belle_

 

Her letter arrived the same day she did. He saw her across the compound. He wasn’t even sure it was her. He broke into a run. Crashing through men and Jeeps, he had to know. Had to know it was her. Calling for her, shouting her name over and over. 

“Belle! My cher Belle!” his French Creole voice shouted above the din of the trucks. 

“Adam?” Belle questioned. He came into her sight and she let out the breath she had been holding since she heard her name being called. 

“Belle, it’s me.”

“It _is_ you.”

 


End file.
